


A Distant Call to Listen

by rosecake



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Bonding, Canon-Divergence AUs, F/F, crossovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-19
Updated: 2018-06-19
Packaged: 2019-05-17 13:25:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14833113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosecake/pseuds/rosecake
Summary: Laurel is sent to Earth-38 for her own protection but she ends up getting involved in Kara's fights in the process.





	A Distant Call to Listen

**Author's Note:**

  * For [VampirePaladin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/VampirePaladin/gifts).



> This fic is set after The Arrow S6 and has spoilers for the season finale, although it goes slightly AU. It also has some minor spoilers for the season finale of Legends of Tomorrow S3. It takes place mid-S3 of Supergirl but goes pretty AU from there.

"Thank you for agreeing to this," said Sara.

She looked a little uncomfortable, but she was still a lot friendlier looking than the woman standing next to her. They were both pretty, but that was pretty much where the resemblance ended. Kara never would have guessed they were technically almost sisters if she hadn't already known it. Black Siren - or Laurel, or Earth-2 Laurel, Kara wasn't really sure exactly what to call her. She hadn't actually known the first Laurel, only heard about her through other people, so there was really no reason she needed to distinguish between the two of them. Except that the distinction was really important to all of Kara's friends, so it probably should be important to Kara too. But calling her Black Siren when she was standing there in an over-sized sweater instead of the black leather get-up felt weird, too.

Whatever Kara was supposed to call her, she was looking at Kara with an expression just barely short of hostility.

Still, Kara always thought it was best to try. "Not a problem. Hi!" she said, sticking her hand out to Laurel. "I'm Kara, it's nice to properly meet you."

She looked at Kara's outstretched hand for just long enough that Kara thought she was going to leave her hanging, but eventually she reached out and shook it. "Laurel," she said, smiling in a way that managed to both show a lot of teeth and look very unfriendly. Kind of like a shark.

Kara hadn't known the other Laurel, but she'd agreed to take her doppelgänger in when Sara and Oliver had called and asked. She was starting to regret it a little, but then again, she doesn't think they would have asked if they hadn't been desperate. And they had said that she'd stopped trying to murder people, at least for the most part, with maybe a couple of exceptions she wouldn't be able to get to on Earth-38.

"Okay," said Sara. "I've got to bail. Lots of demons to kill."

"Demons?" asked Kara. "I thought you were a time traveler? You're fighting demons now?"

"Long story," said Sara. It sounded like she was exhausted just thinking about it. "Maybe in a few years I'll be able to talk about it without wanting to rip my own hair out." She turned to Laurel. "Please be nice. And no murder."

"Yeah, sure, no murder," said Laurel. Kara thought that was going to be the end of their goodbyes, but after a second Laurel reached out for Sara's arm. "You'll call if..."

"I'll call if Quentin's condition changes," said Sara. They looked at each other, and then after a brief hug that managed to be one of the most awkward things Kara had ever seen Sara slipped back through the portal.

Then it was just her and Laurel.

"So, welcome to Earth," said Kara. "I think it's mostly the same as your Earth. A couple of the cities are different, and for some reason all of the fast food restaurants have different names, but other than that things mostly seem to be the same."  
There was a moment of silence, and it dawned on Kara that she was definitely going to have to do all the heavy lifting in their conversations. "So, do you want to get settled in?"

"Sure," said Laurel. "Why not."

 

*

"You don't have to stay here forever, obviously," said Kara as Laurel dropped her bag down on the room's neatly made bed. They were in one of the small, studio-style apartments used by DEO agents when they visited from other cities, or when things were just too busy for people to get away from the complex. "We thought you might like a little time to figure out what it is you actually want before we get you set up with a new identity and an apartment and everything."

Laurel looked around the room. "Not bad," she said. "Definitely better than a jail cell."

"Glad to hear it," said Kara. Laurel wasn't actually hostile, exactly, but she was extremely closed off in a way that made it hard for Kara to get a read on her, or how she wanted to be treated. "So, from what Sara said, it know it wasn't exactly your choice to come over here, right?"

Laurel gave her the same shark-like smile again. "Apparently I'm currently 'a threat to myself and others', at least according to Oliver," she said, doing little air quotes with her fingers.

"Yeah, okay, but still, I'd like you to be good here. Is there anything else you need?" asked Kara.

"Does this place have a gym?" asked Laurel.

"Oh, yeah!" said Kara. "Top of the line."

"Great. I've got some aggression issues I need to work out."

 

*

Laurel spent most of her time in the gym over the next few days. She didn't socialize much - she was polite enough, shook hands when she was introduced to people, and she paid attention whenever J'onn or Alex went over the currently line-up of planetary threats. But she didn't really talk other than to respond when she was spoken too, and she stood with her arms crossed, closing herself off.

The only thing she really showed much of an interest in was the gym. She was savage on the equipment, she probably would have left a trail of broken debris behind her if most of the equipment hadn't been designed specifically to stand up to super-powered aliens.

Kara watched her sometimes, taking out whatever issues she was carrying with her on the defenseless gym equipment, hour after hour.

"Are you okay?" she asked, finally. Laurel looked up at her, blank confusion on her face.

"I'm fine," she said, slightly breathless. "Why?"

"I just, you know, wanted to make sure you weren't overdoing it," said Kara. She regretted asking. It seemed like it must be exhausting, constantly exercising at full blast, but Kara wasn't really a very good judge of how much physical exertion humans could handle.

There was a flash of irritation across Laurel's face, and then Kara really did regret asking. "I'm fine," repeated Laurel.

"Okay, great," said Kara, plenty ready to leave. "I was just checking. You know, like I said, if you ever need anything you just need to ask."

Laurel shook her head.

"Good, well, I'll see you around, I guess," said Kara, but she stopped when Laurel spoke up again.

"Actually, now that you mention it, beating down on the gym equipment is starting to get a little old. What about all these threats you guys keep talking about?"

"Oh?" asked Kara, a little surprised. "I can tell you the next time there's an alert if you want to come with."

Laurel nodded, and Kara was half way out the door when Laurel spoke up again.  
"You haven't heard anything from Earth Prime, have you?" she asked.

"Uh, no, not recently," said Kara. "Why? Did you want to talk to Sara?"

The equipment for getting a signal through to Earth Prime was in one of Winn's labs, one that Laurel had access to. Although, as far as Kara knew, she'd never actually taken the opportunity to use it.

Laurel shook her head. "Just curious," she said.

 

*

They got an alert a few hours later of an Askiandar smashing his way through downtown. J'onn wasn't sure why - mind control, a mental breakdown, or just a plain old love of destruction. But it was the weekend, and there weren't many civilians around, and on top of that Askiandarians didn't have much in the way of powers aside from the super strength when compared to native humans. It should make for a fairly predictable fight.  
Good as time as any to figure out what Laurel would be like in the field.

Kara rolled in first, being the fastest, and cleared out a couple of the slower civilians from the danger zone. As soon as the last one was safe she pivoted back, preparing to pick up speed and slam into the rampaging alien, but she heard Laurel call out to her.

"Get up and out of the way," she said, and Kara obliged, tilting the angle of her flight so that she went up and well over the alien instead. As she flew, Laurel took up a position in the street in front of him.

She screamed, and even though it wasn't directed at Kara it was still loud enough that Kara instinctively covered her ears. The Askiandar covered his ears, too, but his ears were the least of his problems. The full brunt of Laurel's scream sent him flying backwards into the wall of a bank and he crashed right through it, landing on his back in the lobby.

He wasn't moving inside the rubble of the building, but Laurel advanced on him as if he were still a threat. Kara could see her breath deeply and then open her mouth, as if to scream again, and she wasted no time in putting herself between Laurel and the unconscious alien.

"Hey," she said, and Laurel shut her mouth immediately. Fortunately, if she had been planning on screaming again, she'd seen Kara in time to stop. "I think he's down."

Laurel looked at her for a second before shrugging.

"You're the expert," said Laurel. "I just always like to make sure they're down."

Kara looked back at the Askiandar behind her. He was twitching a little, and when she listened closely she could hear his heart beating. She wasn't sure what his condition was - she wasn't familiar enough with his species to know exactly what their heartbeat or their breathing was supposed to be like - but she was confident he was somewhere in that sweet spot between "too injured to still be a threat" and "at immediate risk of dying".

"He's definitely down," said Kara. "Better get him back to the DEO."

 

*

"So what was she like in the field?" asked Alex.

Kara shrugged. Her ears were still ringing a little. "Fine, I guess. Maybe a little aggressive."

"Not that surprising," said Alex. "She does seem the type based on what Sara said."

Kara nodded. Sara and Oliver had been looking for someone strong enough to protect her, because she'd apparently made some vicious enemies, but they'd also wanted someone strong enough to protect other people from Laurel if it came down to that.

"Maybe it'll help if she opens up more. Keeping everything on lock down, living in a strange place, that's all got to be a lot to deal with."

"Well, it couldn't hurt," said Alex.

 

*

Unsurprisingly, she found Laurel in the gym, treating a punching bag as if it had murdered her family.

 _Better the poor bag than another person_ , thought Kara. But maybe people was what Laurel needed. She'd been so isolated, and part of the reason Sara had sent her over was so she could be around other people instead of locked down in the basement of a secure ARGUS facility somewhere back on her own world. Or, well, Earth Prime, which wasn't the Earth she'd originally come from. Laurel didn't really seem like the kind of person with a world of her own.

"Hi," said Kara.

Laurel stopped working the bag when Kara called her name, but when she turned around there was still a wild look in her eyes, like whatever aggression she was taking out on the bag wasn't something she could fully shut down in an instant.

"Kara," she said, her voice bright even though she was a little breathless, her expression smoothing itself out as she spoke.

"You're always in here going after that poor punching bag," said Kara. "I was wondering if you wanted to try sparring with a live opponent for a while?"

Laurel leaned onto the bag, swaying forward a little as it shifted under her weight. "Are you sure?" she asked. "People tell me I can get a little carried away sometimes. I wouldn't want to hurt you. Not when I'm a guest in your universe."

Kara laughed. "You don't have to worry about hurting me," she said. "I'm a lot sturdier than the punching bag."

Laurel smiled and raised up a gloved fist. "You sure about that?"

"Take your best shot," said Kara, spreading her arms wide in invitation.

Laurel hung back for one second in hesitation, and then she lunged, her right arm striking out at Kara's chest.

Getting used to her strength was one of the hardest things she'd had to master when she first came to Earth. The pressure, exertion, feeling - she'd broken so many things without meaning to. The only thing that had kept her from seriously injuring anyone had been sheer dumb luck. She was a lot better at it now, though. So even though it didn't hurt in the slightest - it was just a touch, like shaking hands, or checking someone's forehead for a fever - she could tell that Laurel had put her full strength into the punch.

"Yeah, fuck, okay," said Laurel, sliding her glove off and shaking her hand. "It's like punching a solid brick wall. Maybe I'll stick to the punching back. Less likely to accidentally break my own hand."

"Yeah, I'm not the best for practicing hand-to-hand combat with humans," she said. "I've gone up against sonic-powered super villains before, though. So practicing against one couldn't hurt."

"Alright," said Laurel, a gleam in her eyes that might strike Kara as dangerous if she weren't invulnerable. "But I should warn you, my bark is a lot worse than my bite."

 

*

Kara wasn't just strong, she was also fast, and so most of her strategy involved staying out of Laurel's range while she screamed herself hoarse. The room they were in was huge, positively massive for an underground facility, but pretty much any indoor space was tight enough to compromise Kara's maneuverability while flying. So she spent a lot of time on the ground instead, where she was slower, but slow for Kara was still insanely fast to most of her opponents.

The first time Laurel managed to hit her only Kara's arm got tagged with the full brunt of the blast, but it still _hurt_ , and the force of it caught on her cape hard enough to throw her off balance. She hit the floor, but came up a fraction of a second later.

"Wow, okay," she said. "You got me that time."

"Finally," said Laurel, breathing hard. She leaned down to rest her hands on her knees. In short repetition it seemed like the sonic scream took a lot out of her.

"I'm good for now if you are," said Kara, and Laurel nodded. Laurel stretched out her shoulders, let her joints pop, and when she walked over to Kara it seemed like some of that manic, caged energy to her had dissipated.

Laurel took the water bottle that Kara offered her. "Thanks," she said, and after she took a drink from it she tilted her head back, letting the water pour down over her face and chest. She then took a towel to pat the excess off, but when she dropped the towel back on the bench her shirt was still wet, clinging to her chest in a way that made the heat in Kara's face rise.

"We should do this more," said Kara, aware that she was babbling some and unable to stop herself. "It's a good distraction, right? I know it's a lot to deal with, being in a totally different place, and I know you're probably worried about your dad--"

"He's not my dad," snapped Laurel.  
Kara tried not to wince. Okay, technically the Quentin Lance she knew was not related to the Laurel Lance in front of her, but there was _technical_ and then there was how people actually felt about things. And the impression she'd gotten from Sara was that Laurel was really not okay with the fact that her technically-not-dad had gotten shot and hadn't woken up since the surgery to patch up the hole in his stomach.

"Sorry," said Kara. "I only meant-- I understand, I know that it's got to be hard for you, especially since you're stuck here instead of over there--"

"It doesn't really matter, does it? That's not my home, and that's not my dad. It doesn't matter at all to me. So it sure as hell doesn't matter to _you_."

Laurel pushed past Kara towards the exit. Kara figured she'd put her foot in her mouth enough as it was, and let herself be pushed.

 

*

Kara didn't see Laurel again until the next alert went out. This time, it was Reign, and Kara had to swallow down the nervous panic rising in her throat. She'd been inactive for so long part of Kara had almost started to believe she might stay gone.  
"So she's Kryptonian too?" asked Laurel. She was already in her costume, mask in place, even though nobody had actually told her she was going into the field this time. "Just like you?"

"I like to think I've got a lot better personality," said Kara, trying for levity and not really reaching it. Laurel smiled, but Kara didn't think it was at her comment. She thought Laurel was looking forward to tearing into someone without having to hold anything back.

And Kara still wasn't sure if she should let her or not. Sara and Oliver had sent Laurel to Kara at least in part to keep her safe, and Kara didn't really want to have to explain to them how she'd died going up against the Kryptonian version of one of the four horsemen of the apocalypse.

At the same time, Kara wasn't sure she could afford to turn down any help available.

"Seriously, be careful," said Kara. "She's insanely strong, and she's vicious, and I don't want you to get hurt. Sara and the others already have enough to deal with as it is."

"They'll be fine," said Laurel. "I'm not really their Laurel, remember?"

Kara cleared her throat. She didn't think that was true, but it was also a really terrible time to try and argue about it. "Okay, but still. _I_ would be upset. So be careful."

"You don't have to worry about me," said Laurel. "I can be vicious too."

And that was the other thing that worried Kara. However awful Reign may be, there was a still a person inside her. Even if she was buried deep, it wasn't too far to reach. People were never too far to reach.

"Please," said Kara, "Just promise you'll be careful."

 

*

Laurel wasn't kidding when she said she could be vicious, but she had the same problem with Reign as she did with Kara when they were sparring. Reign was fast, too for Laurel to hit at full blast, and with her flight she could move in so many directions it was impossible for Laurel to anticipate which way she might dodge. This time, though, it wasn't one-on-one - she and Kara were a team, working together to keep Reign down while J'onn and the others cleared out the civilian casualties.

"I just need her still for one second," snarled Laurel. She was keeping her distance so that Reign couldn't grab her before Kara could intervene, but that was only making Reign harder to hit.

Reign might be strong, but keeping her still for a few seconds? Kara could manage that. It took her a few tries, but Kara eventually got Reign down at ground level, holding her in place from behind.

"Now!" yelled Kara.

Laurel's scream hit them both - Reign was in the front and took the brunt of it, but it was still strong enough that Kara was knocked to the ground as well, dazed. The ringing in her ears was loud enough to be disorienting, and it took Kara a second to pick herself up off the ground and figure out what was happening.

In that time, Laurel had made her way over to Reign, who was in even worse shape than Kara. Laurel held Reign's head up by her hair and screamed again, directly into her ear, not a burst like she usually did but a sustained scream. It was hard to listen to from a distance, and Kara couldn't imagine what it must have felt like in Reign's place.

"Wait," said Kara, concern overtaking her, forcing her back into action. "Siren, wait! You could kill her!"

Laurel either couldn't hear her over her own sonic scream or she just didn't care. Kara wasn't sure which it was, and after a second's hesitation she lunged, pulling Laurel off Reign and far enough way that she couldn't hurt her any more.

The second they come to a stop Laurel screamed again. It was brief, and her voice was already weak from the sustained scream she'd just pulled, but it was hard enough to throw Kara off her.

"Why did you stop me?" she snapped, her voice ragged as she yelled. It almost made her sound as if she'd been crying. "I had her!"

Kara looked back to where Reign had been, collapsed on the ground in an unmoving heap, but she was already gone. Kara still felt like her brain was leaking out fo her ears, but Reign had already found the strength to pick herself up and flee to give herself time to recover. It was frightening, how fast she came as went, and for a second she felt sick for having stopped Laurel.

"There's still a person inside her," said Kara. "There's a person inside all of them, we can't just kill them. We can still save them."

Laurel threw her arms up in frustration. "You're just as bad as the whole damn Earth Prime group, you're fucking _insane_. You're the one who said she's a murderer! She just tore up half your city, for what, the tenth time?"

"We can save her," said Kara. She'd said it to so many people, and she needed to believe it was true. "Do you really want to kill somebody that badly? Do you really want to have to live with that?"

Laurel went quiet for a second, and then walked over to Kara. She put her hand on Kara's neck and slid it up to her chin, and Kara froze for a second, even though Laurel was in no state to actually do anything to her.

"You know, for a while there people used to think think there was still a person deep down inside me, too" she said, and for a second Kara thought she'd made her point. People were worth saving, even if it was hard.  
"There are a lot of people who would still be alive today if they hadn't been so fucking stupid," said Laurel, letting go of Kara's face. "Think about that the next time you want to stop somebody from ending your World Killer problem."

 

*

"How's Laurel doing?" asked Sara.

"Okay," said Kara, wincing a little internally because it was basically a lie. Laurel hadn't said anything to her since the fight with Reign, and she'd destroyed a substantial amount of DEO property taking her anger out on the gym equipment. Still, taking it out on inanimate objects was better than taking it out on people.

Sara looked rough, though, like she hadn't slept in weeks, and she sounded tired. "Um, are you okay?" asked Kara.

"Time demons," said Sara, as if that was all the explanation necessary. "You kill one, five more pop up. Do you guys have magic over there?"

"I mean, I feel like there's usually a scientific solution, even if we don't always understand the exact basis for it yet?"

"Yeah, I hear you, just make sure you get all that shit locked down with the sci-fi stuff," said Sara. "Magic is not worth it. Like, time travel is bad enough, but magic is the fucking worst. Sorry."

"It's okay if you curse in front of me. I'm not eight."

"Sorry, you just always struck me as very, uh, girl-scout, I guess," said Sara. "Anyway, I just wanted to check in on Laurel. Are you sure she's okay? She was a little wired up the last time she called."

"Well, she's been helping us with our Kryptonian world killer issue, which is obviously kind of stressful even I do think it's good for her to get outside," said Kara, keenly aware that she was sort of lying to a professional ex-assassin and feeling very out of her depth. "I think maybe-- I think maybe she's worried about your dad, you know? How is Mr. Lance?"

"You don't have to call him Mr. Lance all the time, Quentin is fine," said Sara. "And no change, really, I guess," she said, sighing.  
"I'm sorry."

"It's okay," said Sara. "They got the infection and everything under control, the fever's gone down, so now it's really just a matter of-- He just needs to wake up. We're just kind of waiting around for him to wake up."

"I'm sure he will," said Kara. Maybe that was the wrong thing to say, she wasn't his doctor, she didn't really know how comas worked, but it sounded like what Sara needed to hear. It's what Kara thought she'd want to hear if she were in the same place.

"Yeah, thanks," said Sara, smiling. "Oh, damn, Laurel's not drinking, is she?"  
"I don't think so? She is kind of working out a lot." "Well, as far as coping mechanisms go that sounds healthy enough. Just let me know if she starts drinking, okay? I want to be all over that right away."

"Sure thing," said Kara. "I'll let you know if anything gets weird."

"Thanks, Kara," said Sara. "I mean, I know she's not my sister, I've really only met her a handful of times, but Oliver's not here and dad's, well. But it's still-- It still means a lot to me, and-"

An alarm went off somewhere in the Wave Rider, a siren with bright flashing lights casting a red glare over Sara's face, and Sara closed her eyes. "Fucking time demons," she said, rubbing her temple. "Well, bye. I'll talk to you soon. Oh, and tell Alex I said hey."

 

*

"Hi!" said Kara when Laurel opened the door. She'd been kind of worried Laurel just straight up wasn't going to answer her knocking, so she figured things were off to a good start. "Do you want to go spar?" she said, smiling, gesturing in the vague direction of the gym. She was aware that her nervousness was making her overly chipper, but she'd never been very good at reining it in.

Laurel just looked at her. "Are you serious?"

She looked like she hadn't been sleeping, but she also looked stone-cold sober, which was reassuring. Kara had been worried about that ever since Sara had brought it up.

"Everybody needs practice," she said, punching the air, and now she was most definitely overdoing it. She let her arms drop down to her sides, and then deciding that was probably too severe, tried resting one hand on her hip casually.

Laurel looked down to Kara's hip, and Kara nervously let her hands drop to her sides again. Laurel drummed her fingers along the door frame. "Sure," she said, after what felt like an hour.

"Really?" asked Kara, right before realizing she probably shouldn't have sounded so surprised Laurel was going along with her suggestion.

"Yes, really," said Laurel. "Just let me get changed first."

Kara stepped into her room, and then turned around and faced the wall as Laurel slipped her shirt off, realizing she really should have waited in the hall. "Have you thought about an apartment?" she asked, staring at the blank grey wall in front of her. "You really don't have to stay here in the DEO if you don't want to."

"Staying here is convenient for now," said Laurel. Kara could hear rustling as she slipped into her gym clothes. "It's a nice set-up."

"Okay," said Kara, still staring at the wall. "I mean, we could at least get you some posters if you want."

"I'm fine," said Laurel. She tapped Kara on the shoulder, and Kara turned around to find her fully dressed. "And ready."

The sparring went easy at first. But Kara wasn't sure if she was slower, or if Laurel had gotten better at anticipating her dodges, because her sonic screams were hitting a lot closer than they had the first couple of times they'd done this.

It wasn't very long before Kara took one full-on, and she was surprised at how much it hurt. She was always surprised at how much things could hurt, because usually they didn't, and taking one of Laurel's sonic screams head-on was a world away from just being tagged with it, or having someone else block the worst of it.

She was laid out flat on her back, ears still ringing, and then all of a sudden Laurel was on top of her, legs on either side of her, pinning Kara to the ground at the waist.

"I win," she said, smiling.

"Um, excuse me?" said Kara. She was a little dizzy, and that was the only reason she hadn't gotten up yet. Also, it was training, it wasn't like they'd established rules about victory conditions or anything. "I still have super strength, remember? It's not like you can keep me pinned." "Maybe not now," said Laurel, "But you've been on the ground for a while, and if I'd started screaming when back when I pinned you, then you never would have gotten back up."

Kara swallowed and shook her head. The sonic scream thing might hurt, and make her a little dizzy, but they hadn't determined that Laurel could actually kill her with it. Reign had been up and moving pretty quickly the second she'd stopped, after all. "I've gone up against sonic-powered villains before, remember? It's not enough to kill me."

Laurel leaned forward so that she was resting her weight on her arms, with a hand at either side of Kara's head. A few stray strands of her har slipped from behind her ears, long enough to brush against Kara's face. "You sure about that?" she asked.

Kara wasn't sure if it was the implicit threat, or just the way Laurel was looking down at her, but she could feel her face starting to flush.

"I'm sure," she said.

Laurel very gently reached for her chin and turned Kara's head to the side, then leaned down so that she was whispering directly into her ear. "You really don't seem that sure, Kara."

Kara tried to ignore the way the room was spinning as she stood up, pushing Laurel off her in the process. Laurel laughed, not even stumbling a little as she rose to her feet and out of Kara's way. She moved so gracefully, especially compared to Kara's own unsteady movement.

"I'm okay," said Kara, as Laurel reached out for arm to steady her as she swayed.

"Good to know," said Laurel. "But you really need to learn how to fight better."

"What?" asked Kara. "I fight all the time. It's pretty much all I do these days."

"I mean really learn how to fight. Correct stance and posture and all that. You're so fast and strong that it probably doesn't matter most of the time, but then somebody like Reign comes alone and you get wrecked. If you really learn how to fight you'll be able to take on people just as strong and as fast as you. Maybe even people stronger."

Kara already knew all of that. At least, Alex had tried to teach her, although Kara hadn't ever really had as much time for it as she should have. But right then Laurel was staring at her, and it was a little too much with how dizzy she still was.

"I'll think about it," said Kara.

 

*

A few more problems came up, but for reasons Kara doesn't quite feel like explaining to herself or to anyone else, she didn't call Laurel in to help with any of them. Not until Reign came back.

Kara recognized her, even a hazy figure moving across the frame of an unfocused camera. The local news crews had been first on the scene, alerted to the new rampage even before the DEO. Reign looked perfectly healthy - if there were any lingering effects from her last run-in, then they weren't showing. She looked on top of her game and impossibly strong.

"Where's Laurel?" she asked. "I think she's still down in the labs," said Winn. "Sara called for her not that long ago."

Kara moved through the halls at super speed, only slowing down at the door. "Laurel-" she said, and stopped.

Laurel turned to look at her, and her face was wet. She'd been crying, and crying hard. She wasn't talking to Sara, though, she was talking to a man, and it took Kara a second to recognize him as Quentin Lance. He looked awful, but he was also awake, which was a minor miracle.

"Mr. Lance!" said Kara. And really, she wanted to let them talk, she wouldn't have interrupted if she'd realized, but Reign was already out there and people were dying every second. "Laurel, I'm sorry, but it's Reign again," she said. "I need you."

Laurel wiped a hand across her face as she turned back to Quentin. "I'll call you back as soon as I can," she said.

"Okay. Be careful, sweetheart."

Laurel hung up, and then she turned around, reaching out for Kara's hand. "Let's go," she said, and Kara was already moving, carrying her to the fight.

*

Laurel was a mess for the first couple minutes of the fight, but by the time J'onn had joined up with them she'd pulled herself back together.

Not fast enough, though, because Reign was ready for Black Siren this time. She moved faster, stayed further away, out of range of Laurel's screams but close enough that Laurel still had move fast to dodge her eye beams. She slid easily out of Kara's attempts to grab her - when Kara finally managed it, Reign was sure to keep her twisted around, so that it was Kara in Laurel's line of fire. It took her and J'onn together to hold her in place, forward enough for Laurel to hit her.

All three of them hit the ground, but Kara was used to the feeling of it by now, and J'onn had some weird trick he could do with his bone density to minimize the impact. It only took them seconds to get up again. Unfortunately, Reign must have adapted to it as well, because she was up and moving too as soon as Kara and J'onn let go of her. She lunged straight for Laurel, making sure Laurel didn't have the time she needed to get in right up next to her skull.

She'd recognized Laurel as a threat, and now she was trying to take her out. Kara let lose with her eye beams even as Laurel screamed, and between the two blasts Reign was knocked of her course.

Still, she managed to reach out and catch Laurel on the hip, and even the glancing blow was enough to send Laurel flying. Kara screamed in frustration as she lunged at Reign again, J'onn fast on her heels. Reign couldn't manage to duck away in time, and Kara struck her full force in her stomach.

"She's disoriented," said J'onn. He had cuffs in his hands, one's they'd gotten from Lena, and if they could just get Reign down for long enough the cuffs should be able to hold her until they could wrangle her into a holding cell. "She felt that sonic scream. Just keep hitting her until she goes down. Don't give her chance to get her bearings."

"Right," said Kara, lunging forward again, catching Reign and pulling her down as she tried to dodge under Kara's arm. Kara had her on the ground for a few solid hits before Reign lashed out and caught Kara's chin, sending her backwards.

Reign staggered to her feet, and Kara got ready to get back on hers, to try and get her on the ground again, when she heard Laurel. "Just stay down!"

Kara did as she was told, flattening herself agains the debris littering the ground, and force of Laurel's scream went over her, striking Reign directly in the chest.

Kara looked back at Laurel, who had dragged herself up onto her hands and knees for that last sonic scream. "J'onn's right," she said, even as she collapsed back down onto her chest. "Keep hitting her. Don't let her up."

Kara wanted to go to her, make sure she was okay, but Reign needed handling first. She darted forward to where Reign was on the ground and hit her, then settled down so that she was pinning Reign to the ground. She hit her again, and again, and didn't stop until she saw blood. "J'onn?" she cried out. Reign was still, unconscious, but she was alive and breathing. Kara had no idea how long she'd stay out for, but J'onn was by her side in a second, pulling Reign around and cuffing her. "I can get her to Lena's cell," he said. "You go check on Laurel."

The though of leaving J'onn alone with Reign made her nervous, but at the moment she couldn't help but be more worried about Laurel.

She flew over to Laurel, who'd managed to roll over onto her back. She was panting, and her face was pale even under all the dirt and grime covering it. There wasn't any blood, but she looked bad. "Are you okay?" asked Kara.

"My leg," said Laurel, her voice so blown out Kara wasn't sure she would have heard her without the super-hearing.

Kara let her vision slide over to the x-ray spectrum, and she flinched. It was a bad break, right down the length of the bone, but at least the leg was the only thing she saw broken. "It's okay," she said. "J'onn is taking care of Reign, so I can get you back to the DEO. You'll be fine once you get to a doctor."

"Kara--" she started.  
"It's okay," said Kara. "Whatever it is you want to say, it can wait."

 

*

"Wrong," said Laurel. She gently pushed Kara's hip down, and then pulled her shoulder back. "Like this. The force of the punch should flow straight through your arm."

Kara tried it again. The motion didn't really feel natural, but Laurel had said that would change over time as her muscles got used to the correct form. "Was that right?"

"It was better," said Laurel, and Kara could tell from her voice that she was coddling her some.  
"You're not supposed to be going soft on me, remember?" said Kara.  
"I'm not going soft on you," said Laurel. "I said it was better, I didn't say it was perfect."

"Right," said Kara. "I'm going to try to throw you this time, okay?"

"Ready," said Laurel, and Kara did it, pulling her over, trying to make sure Laurel rolled over her hip properly and following her down to the ground to land on top of her. It was hard - she had to keep her strength reigned in, do it like she would if she were human, or de-powered, but she managed it. She ended up on top of Laurel on the mat, face-to-face, just like she was supposed to.

"That time was perfect," said Laurel, smiling. She reached up and pulled Kara into a kiss, one that Kara was too surprised to pull away from.

"What?" she said, as soon Laurel let her go.

"If you can get next throw right, I'll give you another one," said Laurel.

"Wait, what?" asked Kara. "Since when are we-- What?"

"I thought you'd do better if you were motivated," said Laurel. "We could do something else, if you want. I could make you cupcakes."

She was clearly joking, which was nonsensical, because whoever said Kara wanted make-outs? Cupcakes were much more in line with her character. At least, that was what she would have said a few minutes ago. Now she wasn't as sure.

"Okay," she said. "But I think you need to remember to score generously."

 

*

"I though you said I had to get my punching form down before you were going to do this," said Kara.  
"I did, didn't I?" said Laurel, her hand down Kara's gym pants, pulling agains the band of Kara's underwear. Her fingers were tantalizingly close, and maybe Kara shouldn't have reminded her. "I guess I got impatient. I'd like to get some before I'm old."

"Hey," said Kara, her complaint turning into a gasp as Laurel stroked inside her, fingers sliding easily in and then out again. "I'm getting there," she finally managed, once she could talk again."

"Well I wanted to get there a little faster," said Laurel. "I can stop if you want."

"No," said Kara. "No stopping. At least not for a while."

*

"Hi, Ray!" said Kara. It had been ages since she'd seen him, and he looked good, which was reassuring. She'd been worried about how the Legends were doing since she'd last seen Sara. "What's up? How's the demon problem thing going?"

"Actually, about that," said Ray, dragging a surly looking woman around Kara's age into the screen's view. "This is Nora! She used to be possessed, and now we're sort of having a problem with demons trying to repossess her all the time, which sucks because she's really very nice, and--"

"Nice? Didn't she try to murder all of you?" asked Laurel incredulously. "Didn't her dad successfully murder the other Laurel?"

"Don't talk about my--" started Nora, her eyes narrowing, but Ray immediately started talking over before she could really get into it with Laurel.

" _Like I said_ , there were some possession issues, but all of that's in the past, she's really super nice now, it's just that the demons are going really hard after her. And I figured, hey, Laurel's been doing really good since she jumped over to Kara's Earth, right? And maybe Nora could go hide out over there too? Just until we get the whole 'we accidentally released a ton of time demons into the world' thing wrapped up."

"What the fuck do you think this is, the Kryptonian Home for Wayward Girls?" asked Laurel. "Just step it up with the demon hunting. We've got enough issues to deal with."

"We would be _very happy_ to have her!" said Kara, looking at Laurel as she emphasized the _happiness_ part. "And we could use all the help we can get protecting people from what's left of the World Killer army."  
"Great!" said Ray, smiling. "We'll be right on over."

The message clicked off, and Laurel looked over at Kara. "I'm not sharing my room with her."

Kara rolled her eyes. "Of course not," she said. "You can share rooms with me instead."

She smiled, and after a second Laurel smiled back. "Yeah, okay," she said. "I think I can live with that."


End file.
